1. Medicines in Adult Social Care Care homes & Care at Home
Name: Mindy Bhalla
Location: Stafford
Date: 17 April 2019 1 1

2. Our purpose
We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve
Register
Monitor and inspect
Use legal powers
Speak independently
Encourage improvement
Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate
People have a right to expect safe, good care from their health and social care services

3. Adult social care 79% of ASC services were rated as good,
Caring rated best – 91% good and 4% outstanding.
Well-led poorest – 21% requires improvement and
2% inadequate
There are now 605 services rated as outstanding – nearly 250 more than when we reported last year.
High-performing services have strong leaders – innovative registered managers known to staff, people using the service, carers and families had a positive impact
High-quality services are person-centred – staff get to know people as people, understanding their interests, likes and dislikes
Most enforcement for poor care relates to governance, safety, staffing and person-centred care

4. Key lines of enquiry
To focus our inspection, we use a standard set of key lines of enquiry (KLOEs) that relate to the five key questions
KLOEs support consistency of what we look at under each of the five key questions and focus on those areas that matter most
KLOEs are supported by guidance on the key things to consider as part of the assessment; these are called prompts
Each KLOE has a defined set of ratings characteristics – what does ‘good’ look like?
S4: How does the provider ensure the proper and safe use of medicines? 4

5. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.1: Is the provider’s role in relation to medicines clearly defined and described in relevant policies, procedures and training? Is current and relevant professional guidance about the management of medicines followed?
Policies should be service specific, reflect practice be in date, read by and accessible to staff.
NICE guidance: SC1 for care homes / NG67 for people living in their own homes.
Appropriate training, support and competency assessment is essential to ensure the safety, quality and consistency of care.

6. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.2: How does the service make sure that people receive their medicines (both prescribed and non- prescribed) as intended (including controlled drugs and as required medicines), and that this is recorded appropriately?
Medicines records – MARs, controlled drugs, topical
Treatment of minor ailments
Additional guidance for when required medicines and those with variable doses
What adjustments are made for time sensitive medicines?
Compliance aids vs original packs

7. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.3: How are medicines ordered, transported, stored, and disposed of safely and securely in ways that meet current and relevant regulations and guidance?
Responsibility for ordering and collecting medicines.
Secure or controlled access to medicines in care homes.
Suitable storage.
Safe disposal of unwanted medicines including controlled drugs

8. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.4: Are there clear procedures for giving medicines covertly, in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005?
Assessment that person lacks capacity to make decisions about medicines.
Best interest meeting to consider each individual medicine – should be the last resort.
Discussion with pharmacy about how to administer safely and ensure continued effectiveness.

9. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.5: How does the service make sure that people’s behaviour is not controlled by excessive or inappropriate use of medicines?
Inappropriate use of sedation.
Good care planning to anticipate behavioural patterns and environmental adjustments.
Records, care plans and staff guidance for when required medicines.

10. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.6: How do staff assess the level of support a person needs to take their medicines safely, particularly where there are difficulties in communicating, when medicines are being administered covertly, and when undertaking risk enablement assessments designed to promote self- administration?
Assumption that people can self-administer unless preference or risk assessment says otherwise.
Medicines support – person centred, medicine specific.
How do staff decide if a person needs to be given their medicines covertly? Is it always a last resort?

11. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.7: How does the service engage with healthcare professionals in relation to reviews of medicines at appropriate intervals?
Supporting people to attend appointments and reviews.
Contacting the GP to arrange a medicines review.
Knowing when to refer to healthcare professionals.

12. Medicines key lines of enquiry
S4.8: How do staff make sure that accurate, up to date information about people’s medicines is available when people move between care settings? How do medicines remain available to people when they do so?
Medicines reconciliation.
New medicines.
Entry into new care services.
Discharge from hospital.

13. Medicines Incidents
Home care providers must have robust processes for medicines-related safeguarding incidents
Home care providers should have robust processes for identifying, reporting, reviewing and learning from medicines-related problems.
These processes should support a person-centred, 'fair blame' culture that actively encourages people and/or their family members or carers and home care workers to report their concerns.

14. Audit
Care home providers should have a robust audit process.
Audit should be completed in a timely manner.
Audit tools should be specific to the service and reflect the policies in use.
Where issues are identified there should be an action plan in place to address the issues and the action plan should be reviewed.

15. What can you do?
Keep up to date with NICE guidelines and other sources of best practice.
Talk to other providers – share best practice.
Use your medicines experts:
Medicines optimisation team
Community Pharmacy
GP practice

16. Pharmacist Specialist
Thank you
Mindy Bhalla
Pharmacist Specialist 16